The dramatic trial just ended proving what happens in Vegas often ends up in a courtroom. A drive-by, almost fatal shooting. Was it road rage? Did a Las Vegas mother draft her own son to do her dirty work? Tonight, we take you inside the case the husband who barely survives the wife at the center of the case, both talking nl to "20/20." Here's gio Benitez. Reporter: Las Vegas. 4:30 A.M. On a brisk November morning, as the party on the strip winds down, Robert Bessey is putting pedal to the metal on interstate 15, hurrying to his job as a heavy machine operator at a landfill out in the mojave desert. Suddenly, he's got company. I'm about midway into my commute. A vehicle comes onto the highway, same way a patrolmen would. Reporter: So, in your mind, you were thinking that's a patrolman? The speed limit's 75. I'm doing 85, so, yes. I'm getting pulled over, but instead of getting lit up with the reds and blues, they just kind of hang right there. As I turned my head I hear a pop. Reporter: The car speeds off as quickly as it appeared, and it takes Robert a few moments to realize what's happened. In the corner of my eye, I could see that my rear-window was blown out. At that point I feel some blood in the back of my neck. I can feel the spent ammunition, the bullet. So, I called 911. I'm bleeding like hell. I've been shot -- Reporter: As state troopers race to the scene, Robert next calls his boss to let him know he won't be in. I think I've been shot. They said, "Hey, that's a new one on us." For some reason, they didn't believe that. Reporter: Trooper Chelsea Webster, who responds to the 911 call, finds the report of a single gunshot laughable too. It definitely seemed hard to believe, you know, a lot of things can sound like a gunshot. Reporter: But Robert is positive he was shot and provides details about the alleged get-away car. What was it that you noticed right away about that car? The gold color of the fender. Reporter: Robert is rushed to Las Vegas university medical center where doctors do in fact remove a single bullet from his neck. As you can see from this photo of his wounds, his odds of survival were longer than drawing an inside straight flush at Caesar's. Because I was turned and it hit the skull, that's what stopped me from dying. Reporter: Authorities are puzzled. Did somebody do it or was it possible he did it himself? We -- we had just so many things to consider. Reporter: It all felt so random. Could this have been a case of road rage? Get the Out! You . Reporter: There have certainly been enough cases of motorist mayhem in recent years to think that SUV driver was yet another highway psycho. It's a scary situation. Reporter: So, it's no surprise local reporters paint Robert Bessey's shooting as a road rage story at first. Road rage, which authorities say could be the case here. Reporter: But as detectives interview Robert in the hospital, he presents a far stranger explanation of how that bullet wound up in his neck. You have family drama combined with wild allegations. This case is a made-for-tv movie. Reporter: 20 years ago, Robert Bessey married Amy Pearson, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed stunner. It was great. I love my wife. He treated me like a queen. Reporter: They each have two children from previous relationships. Then they have three more together. In this photo from a disneyland vacation -- They're your average, happy family in this photo. Nothing in the world matters to me but my kids. Our e-mail address was the Bessey bunch. You know, after the Brady bunch There are seven kids. And parents, so nine of us. It was hectic, it was never boring. Reporter: She may dye her hair these days, but Aly, who became Robert's adopted daughter, says that's because growing up there was another side of life with her new dad, Robert, enforced strict codes of dress and behavior. They wanted us to seem like the perfect family when behind closed doors it was -- it was hell. Reporter: According to Amy's sisters, Mary Johnson and donna Speakman, Robert even dressed his once-glamorous wife -- Amy wasn't allowed to wear certain clothes. It was loose and baggy. Nothing to show form. It came to a point where Robert would lay her clothes out in the morning before he went to work. That's when we started going, "Wait a minute Amy. What's going on?" Reporter: And what would she say? She's like, "I'm being obedient to my husband." Reporter: The family says you were controlling. Were you? When I meant no, I meant no. When I meant yes, I meant yes. Is that controlling? I don't know. Reporter: For years, Amy was okay with that arrangement. Being a wife is exactly what I was made to be. But the same could not be said for her first-born son, Michael, who became Robert's adopted son. He was a disciplinarian. This was not his biological child. There were problems. As Michael grew up he was so intimidated from Robert, because he couldn't do anything right. Reporter: As soon as mom's little soldier turns 19, Michael makes his escape, ditching the discipline of his desert home for the relative tranquility -- of the U.S. Army! Michael joining the army, was that to get away? He wanted to become a man. That was his words. Reporter: After a tour of duty in South Korea, Michael returns a different person. He was so changed. He stood tall, he would look you right in the eyes. Reporter: So, now, here we have Robert the man of the house. Did they butt heads? Michael had grown a pair at this point. Two alpha dogs fighting. It just got worse and worse and worse. The animosity and the level of all of it. Reporter: It all comes to a head in 2012, six months before the shooting, Robert moves out and divorce proceedings begin. Good morning, we're here on Bessey versus Bessey. I did what was right and I got away. It's time to move on. Reporter: But had everybody really moved on? No, not according to Robert. From his hospital bed Robert tells police that adopted son, Michael, still harbors a burning rage. He's not just talking about typical problems in a family. He's saying, "My son threatened to kill me!" So the authorities now have a real lead. Reporter: But Michael insisted he'd spent the night before with his mom over at his aunt Mary's house -- everyone enjoying a big spaghetti dinner. And Amy tells police he was home with her the rest of the night. Did you stay there at your house? Yeah. Did Michael leave the house? No. Reporter: And remember, Robert specifically recalled that the shot came from a gold SUV. Michael drove a pewter gray bronco. The shooting remains a mystery until a tip breaks the case wide open. The suspect's vehicle was a gold colored -- Gold-colored chevy tahoe or suburban. Reporter: Thanks to news coverage, a trucker reports seeing a gold SUV at this gas station the morning of the shooting, just a few miles from the interstate. If Robert hadn't said gold SUV, we don't have our key piece of evidence. Reporter: Police head here and check the security cameras. In a word -- bingo. And we're not talking scratch off. That's Michael there buying a monster energy drink and snacks at the counter with his uncle ricc, Amy's brother, and an ex-con fresh out of prison. And in that video, there was a little smile, wasn't there? Oh, yeah, there was a smirk for sure. Reporter: And that, for you, was that chilling? Absolutely. Reporter: After scooping up their munchies, the two get into the SUV and drive off in the direction of I-15 where Robert was about to be shot. Soon, police track down that SUV. It belongs to uncle ricc's girlfriend. In short order, they slap the cuffs on the gang that literally couldn't shoot straight. Police say they've made an arrest in a shooting on I-15. Reporter: Case closed? Not by a long shot. Police are about to unearth more stunning revelations about the Bessey bunch, which will explain why we're talking to Amy behind bars. Shame on me, shame on me. Reporter: And the victim of the shooting guilty of something himself? This case kind of got out of control quickly. What the heck is going on,

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